In a very tactical match, which will not go down in football history, Freiburg laid the first stone (1-0) to be in the quarterfinals of the Europa League. The hammers were able to equalize the tie in the last minute when, after a handball inside the area, the VAR called Alejandro Hernández Hernández for a chapter. The Spanish referee reviewed the play on the screen, but decided that the handball was not punishable.
David Moyes’s charges, who promised to be one of the favorites in the second continental competition, will have to turn around the tie in London if they want to be in the next round. Unlike the group stage, where Freiburg and West Ham also faced each other, the London team fails to take a positive result from its visit to the Europa-Park Stadion. But the result obtained then in the second leg (2-0) would give the hammers access to the quarterfinals of the Europa League.
‘No Paquetá, no party’
With Jarrod Bowen as the Hammers’ great offensive reference, the local team was more prodigious in attack than David Moyes’s pupils. West Ham enjoyed their best chances in the boots of the English striker, but Freiburg was more prowling around Lukasz Fabianski’s area during the first 45 minutes. With Lucas Paquetá on the green but absent from football, the London team lost creativity and danger.
So the controversy
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The step forward of Mohammed Kudus gave West Ham wings. The best version of the hammers took place in the second half, and the best arrivals fell from the visiting side. Noah Atubolu, Freiburg goalkeeper, thwarted what could have been 0-1 with a saving hand. However, and although West Ham came close to scoring the first goal of the game on more than one occasion, it was the Germans who opened the scoring. A play strung together on the front line, with the corresponding mistake in the backline by Kurt Zouma, was completed by Michael Gregoritsch with 10 minutes remaining in regulation time.
Although the match ended with a defeat for the London team, everything could have been different if, in the 98th minute, and after a long wait, Alejandro Hernández Hernández had declared a maximum penalty in favor of the hammers. Tomas Soucek’s shot hit the arm of a local footballer, but the Spanish referee, after reviewing the action on the monitor, did not consider it enough to point out the fatal spot.
Changes
Aaron Cresswell (67′, Emerson), Michael Gregoritsch (69′, Lucas Höler), Noah Weisshaupt (69′, Vincenzo Grifo), Kalvin Phillips (80′, James Ward-Prowse), Florent Muslija (81′, Ritsu Doan), Luke Kübler (81′, Kiliann Sildillia), Merlin Röhl (87′, Roland Sallai), Michael Antonio (90′, Lucas Paquetá)
Goals
1-0, 80′: Gregoritsch
Cards
Referee: Alejandro José Hernández Hernández
VAR referee: Carlos del Cerro Grande, César Soto Grado
Kiliann Sildialli (39′, Yellow) Roland Sallai (49′, Yellow) Lucas Paquetá (57′, Yellow)